UNIT-1

READING SKILLS

Definition: Reading is a method of communication that enables a person to turn writing

into meaning. It allows the reader to convert a written text as a meaningful language
with independence, comprehension and fluency, and to interact with the message.

Reading skill refers to the ability to understand written text. Reading is one of the most
important ways of knowing the word around us. Reading influences us in the following
ways: Reading helps us expand our mind. Reading help us know who we are, what is
important to us, and it helps us understand the world around us. The purpose of
reading is to connect the ideas on the page to what you already know. If you don't know
anything about a subject, then pouring words of text into your mind is like pouring
water into your hand.

Techniques of Reading

Reading is a great habit that can change human life significantly. The ability to read is
as important today as it ever was. It can entertain us; amuse us and enrich us with
knowledge and experiences narrated.

There exist some reading techniques, which if mastered at a growing stage can help us,
be better and far more comprehensive readers.

The four main types of reading techniques are the following:

1. Skimming
2. Scanning
3. Intensive
4. Extensive

1. Skimming – Reading for the gist of a text

This reading technique is used for getting the gist of the whole text lead. We generally
use this technique at the time of reading newspaper or magazine. Under this technique,
we read quickly to get the main points, and skip over the detail. It is useful in getting a
preview of a passage before reading it in detail or reviving understandings of a passage
after reading it in detail.

Gist is the general meaning or purpose of a text, either written or spoken. Reading a text
for gist is known as skimming. Before answering detailed comprehension questions on a
short story, learners read it quickly for gist, and then match the text to a picture that
summarises what happens in the story.

2. Scanning – Reading for specific information

Scanning through the text is a reading strategy that is used for getting some specific
points by looking at the whole text. For highlighting the important points of a book the
readers can skim through the summary or the preface or the beginning and ending
chapters of that book. For example, This technique is used for looking up a name from
the telephone guide book.
3. Intensive Reading

You need to have your aims clear in mind when undertaking intensive reading. If you
need to list the chronology of events in a long passage, you will need to read it
intensively. This type of reading has indeed beneficial to language learners as it helps
them understand vocabulary by deducing the meaning of words in context. It moreover,
helps with retention of information for long periods of time and knowledge resulting from
intensive reading persists in your long term memory.

4. Extensive reading

Extensive reading involves reading for pleasure. Because there is an element of

enjoyment in extensive reading it is unlikely that students will undertake extensive
reading of a text they do not like. It also requires a fluid decoding and assimilation of the
text and content in front of you. If the text is difficult and you stop every few minutes to
figure out what is being said or to look up new words in the dictionary, you are breaking
your concentration and diverting your thoughts.

The followings are some techniques of reading used in different situations:

1. Active Reading Style

Active reading aims to get an in-depth understanding of the text. Under this technique,
the reader actively involved with the text while reading it.

Getting in depth knowledge on the text at hand is not possible by reading to skim
through or scan through the text. This technique of Structure-Proposition- Evaluation.
This is an interesting reading technique suggested by Mortimer Adler in his book How to
Read a Book. This reading technique is mainly applicable to non-fiction writing. This
technique suggests reading as per the three following patterns: Studying the structure of
the work; Studying the logical propositions made and organized into chains of inference;
Evaluation of the merits of the arguments and conclusions.

2. Detailed Reading
This technique is used for extracting information accurately from the whole text. Under
this technique, we read every word for understanding the meaning of the text.

In this careful reading, we can skim the text first for getting a general idea and then go
back to read in detail. We can use a dictionary to find the meaning of every unfamiliar
word.

3. Speed Reading
Speed-reading is actually a combination of various reading methods. The aim of speed-
reading is basically to increase the reading speed without compromising the
understanding of the text reading. Some of the strategies used in speed reading are as
follows:

 Identifying words without focusing on each letter

 Not to sounding-out all words
 Not sub vocalizing some phrases
 Spending less time on some phrases than others.
 Skimming small sections.
Reading is the basic foundation on which academic skills of individuals are built. As we
know the paramount importance of reading, it is given the top priority in primary
education.

Many believe that reading is a true measure of a person‘s success in academics. Most of
the subjects taught to us are based on a simple concept – read, understand, analyze,
synthesize, and get information.

BENEFITS OF EFFECTIVE READING

Here are the benefits of effective reading:

1. Effective reading can provide you with a ‘comprehensible input’ from the book or
document that you read.

2. It can enhance your general ability to use other language skills such as listening,
speaking, and writing.

3. It can enhance your vocabulary, that is, you can always learn new words, phrases,
and expressions.

4. Effective reading also helps you keep your mind focused on the material and prevents
it from unnecessary distractions.

5. Moreover, this enables you to extract useful information much more efficiently within
a limited time.

6. It can help you consolidate both previously learned language and knowledge.

7. It helps in building confidence as you start reading longer, and later, voluminous
texts.

8. It gives you pleasure and relaxation as books are the best and most reliable friends.

9. Effective reading facilitates the development of various other skills, such as making
predictions, comparing and contrasting facts, creating samples, hypothesizing,
reorganizing the message as transmitted by the text, improving your critical thinking,
and hence developing a sharp acumen with passage of time.

FOUR BASIC STEPS TO EFFECTIVE READING

While reading a text to learn something, you need to follow the following four basic
steps:

1. Figure out the purpose of reading a particular text. You can identify suitable
reading strategies and use your background knowledge of the topic in order to anticipate
the contents.

2. Spot the parts of the text relevant to the identified purpose and ignore the rest.
This selectivity enables you to focus on particular elements of information from the text.
So, you are able to sift through the information, which in turn reduces the amount of
information you have to hold in short-term memory.

3. Choose the appropriate reading strategy that suits your purpose. Select the
strategy that is suited to the reading task in that particular context and use that
strategy in an interactive manner. This will develop your understanding as well as
confidence.

4. Test or assess your comprehension during reading and also when the reading
task is completed. Monitoring comprehension helps you make out the inconsistencies
and discrepancies in total comprehension of the text. At this step, you can also learn to
use alternative strategies.

READING COMPREHENSION:

Reading comprehension is an intentional, active, interactive process that occurs before,

during and after a person reads a particular piece of writing.

Reading comprehension is one of the pillars of the act of reading. When a person reads a
text he engages in a complex array of cognitive processes. He is simultaneously using his
awareness and understanding of phonemes (individual sound ―pieces‖ in language),
phonics (connection between letters and sounds and the relationship between sounds,
letters and words) and ability to comprehend or construct meaning from the text. This
last component of the act of reading is reading comprehension. It cannot occur
independent of the other two elements of the process. At the same time, it is the most
difficult and most important of the three.

There are two elements that make up the process of reading comprehension: vocabulary
knowledge and text comprehension. In order to understand a text the reader must be
able to comprehend the vocabulary used in the piece of writing.

Types of Reading comprehension

1. Literal

Literal comprehension involves what the author is actually saying. The reader needs to
understand ideas and information explicitly stated in the reading material. Some of this
information is in the form of recognizing and recalling facts, identifying the main idea,
supporting details, categorizing, outlining, and summarizing. The reader is also locating
information, using context clues to supply meaning, following specific directions,
following a sequence, identifying stated conclusion, and identifying explicitly stated
relationships and organizational patterns. These organizational patterns can include
cause and effect as well as comparison and contrast.

For example, some questions and activities may include:

What words state the main idea of the story?

How does the author summarize what she/he is saying? Outlining the first paragraph of
the story.
What happened first, second and last?

How are these things alike? How are they different? What things belong together?

2. Inferential

Inferential comprehension deals with what the author means by what is said. The reader
must simply read between the lines and make inferences about things not directly
stated. Again these inferences are made in the main idea, supporting details, sequence,
and cause and effect relationships. Inferential comprehension could also involve
interpreting figurative language, drawing conclusions, predicting outcomes, determining
the mood, and judging the author‘s point of view. The following questions are usually
asked:

What is the theme?

What effect does this character/event have on the story? How do you think this story
will end?

3. Critical

Critical comprehension concerns itself with why the author says what he or she says.
This high level of comprehension requires the reader to use some external criteria from
his/her own experience in order to evaluate the quality, values of the writing, the
author‘s reasoning, simplifications, and generalizations. The reader will react
emotionally and intellectually with the material. Because everyone's life experiences are
varied, answers to some of the following questions will vary:

 Could this possibly happen? Is this argument logical?

 What alternatives are there?
 Is this a fact or an opinion?
 Do you agree or disagree with the author?
 What is the best solution to this problem?

To conclude, literal, inferential and critical comprehensive reading is what makes a

skilled, strong reader. This skill must be learned and developed. It does not just happen.
With that thought in mind, it has also been shown that strong readers make good
writers. Sustained exposure to the English language does allow for an expanded
vocabulary and knowledge of correct grammar usage. When this is combined with literal,
inferential and critical reading experiences, it enables writers to better express
themselves.

Poor Reading Comprehension

There are a variety of reasons why a reader may have difficulty deriving meaning and
gaining understanding from a passage. The reasons include decoding deficiency,
attention deficit, poor vocabulary, and limited knowledge base.

1. Decoding Deficiency
 There are a variety of reasons why a reader may have difficulty deriving meaning and
gaining understanding from a passage. The reasons include but are not limited to
decoding deficiency, attention deficit, poor vocabulary, and limited knowledge base.

2. Attention Deficit

Another reason for difficulty in reading comprehension is an attention deficit which,

when officially diagnosed, is referred to as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention
Deficit with Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

3. Poor Vocabulary

The third cause of weak reading comprehension is insufficient vocabulary. No matter

how skillful a person is at sounding out words, if he or she does not know the meaning
of the words he or she is reading, he will not gain understanding from the text.

4. Lack of Knowledge Base

The final cause of ineffectual reading comprehension to be discussed here is lack of

knowledge base. This refers to how much knowledge a reader has about the subject of
which he or she is reading. It actually goes hand-in-hand with vocabulary. If the reader
knows little about the subject he is reading, he will find it more difficult to comprehend
the material than someone who has some knowledge about the subject.

To sum, causes of poor reading comprehension can be varied and complex.

Reading comprehension is a crucial skill that helps us understand and enjoy the stories
we read and enables us to glean important information, relate to different perspectives,
and ultimately navigate the world around us. One of the fundamental aspects of reading
comprehension is identifying the main idea of a text, which often requires patience,
focus, and strategies to discern the author’s central message.

To successfully identify the main idea, we must learn to distinguish it from the
supporting details and recognize patterns and relationships within the text. By honing
this skill, we become better equipped to remember and process the material we’ve read
and develop stronger critical thinking abilities.

What are key steps to identify the main idea?

To identify the main idea, we recommend following these steps:

1. Read the entire passage carefully.

2. Pay attention to the introduction, conclusion, and topic sentences of each paragraph.
3. Look for repeated words or concepts, as these often indicate the main idea.
4. Reflect on the author’s purpose, which can guide you to the main idea.
5. Once you’ve gathered clues, condense the information into a few words or a sentence
that captures the gist of the passage.

How can one find the main idea in a passage?

To find the main idea in a passage, we can:

 1. Identify the topic, which is the subject addressed in the passage.
2. Figure out the author’s perspective on the topic.
3. Summarize the key supporting points mentioned by the author.
4. Combine the topic, author’s perspective, and supporting points to create a
statement that reflects the main idea.

What is the importance of main idea in reading comprehension?

The main idea is crucial in reading comprehension because it:

1. Provides a general overview of the passage’s content.

2. Helps readers focus on the most important information.
3. Allows for more efficient note-taking and studying.
4. Enhances critical thinking and analysis skills by prompting readers to consider
the author’s purpose and perspective.

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE READING

Following are some important tips you must keep in mind about reading:

1. Get your eyes checked. Often, very slow reading is related to uncorrected eye defects.

Before embarking on speed reading, make sure that you don’t have any correctable eye
defects.

2. Get rid of the habit of vocalizing words—if you have—as you read. If you sound out
words in your throat or whisper them, your reading rate is slowed considerably. You
should be able to read most material at least two or three times faster when reading
silently than orally.

3. Find out what you want to know, and for that you need to cut through and assess
what is to be skipped from reading.

4. Your reading rate should vary according to your reading purpose. To understand the
information, for example, skim or scan at a rapid rate.

5. It is always important to stress on qualitative not quantitative reading.

6. Cultivate a positive attitude towards reading. The more you read the more love you
develop towards reading.

7. Even if you find reading to be tedious, try to give your task an extended stretch of an
hour or so. Don’t give up reading in the first 10–15 minutes itself.

8. Learn to underline the key parts/words/concepts for further references.

9. While reading, new ideas and concepts will flash in the mind and the same may be
added in the margin of the page.

10. By using different coloured pencils, the importance level of the contents can be
underlined for future reading.

11. Try to convert the written information into pictorial format while reading for effective
comprehension of contents.
12. Fix some amount of time daily, exclusively for reading, and over a period of time it
will become a practice.

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#VOCABULARY & WORD FORMATION: From different texts & dictionary.

Word Formation

The English language is known for its wonderful quality of the way in which words and
sentences are formed and used. Formation of new words from an existing root word by
adding a syllable or another word is the general process; however, there are multiple
ways in which it can be done.

Types of Word Formation with Examples

The formation of words is classified into four types based on how the process of
formation is carried out. They are:

 By adding prefixes
 By adding suffixes
 Converting from one word class to another
 Forming compound words

Let us look at each type of word formation in detail.

 Adding Prefixes
The term ‘prefix’ refers to one or more alphabets added to the stem of a word, mostly to
make it negative. The most commonly used prefixes include ‘in-’, ‘un-’, ‘dis-’, ‘im-’, ‘ir-’,
etc. Look at the examples given below for a clearer understanding of how prefixes are
used to form new words.

Examples of Word Formation by the Addition of Prefixes

 Discipline – indiscipline
 Just – unjust
 Tidy – untidy
 Respect – disrespect
 Understand – misunderstand
 Comfortable – uncomfortable
 Comfort – discomfort
 Responsible – irresponsible
 Honest – dishonest
 Happy – unhappy
 Polite – impolite
 Experience – inexperience
 Practical – impractical
 Important – unimportant
 Legal – illegal
 Ethical – unethical
 Potent – impotent

 Adding Suffixes
A suffix is a short syllable added at the end of a base word. The addition of suffixes
usually changes the word class of the particular word. The most common suffixes
include ‘-ment’, ‘-ness’, ‘-ity’, ‘-ous’, ‘-tion’, ‘-sion’, ‘-al’, ‘-able’, ‘-ible’, ‘-ive’, ‘-ly’, ‘-ate’, ‘-
er’, ‘-or’, etc. Check out the following examples to see how suffixes are added.

Examples of Word Formation by the Addition of Suffixes

 Comprehend (verb) – comprehension (noun) – comprehensible (adjective)

 Inform (verb) – information (noun) – informative (adjective)
 Invest (verb) – Investment (noun) – Investor (noun)
 Write (verb) – writer (noun)
 Authorise (verb) – authorisation (noun)
 Move (verb) – movement (noun)
 Add (verb) – addition (noun)
 Happy (adjective) – happiness (noun)
 Conserve (verb) – conservation (noun)
 Wide (Adjective) – widen (verb)
 Manage (verb) – manageable (adjective) – manager (noun)
 Courage (noun) – courageous (adjective)
 Brave (adjective) – bravery (noun)
 Profit (noun) – profitable (adjective)
 Quick (adjective) – quickly (adverb)
 Happy (adjective) – happily (adverb)
 Sad (adjective) – sadness (noun)

 Conversion
The process of conversion focuses solely on changing the word class of the particular
word. If you have noticed, you would have seen how some nouns are used to perform the
role of a verb or an adjective acting like a noun just by the addition of another word or
slightly altering the spelling of the actual word.

Examples of Word Formation by Conversion

 The rich should help the poor.

Adjectives such as ‘rich’ and ‘poor’ are used as nouns by using them with the article
‘the’.

 Everyone is talented.

‘Talented’ – a past participle is used as an adjective in the above sentence. The word is
formed by adding the suffix ‘ed’ to the end of the noun ‘talent’.

 There will definitely be a lot of ups and downs in life.

Prepositions ‘up’ and ‘down’ are used as nouns by adding‘s’ to the end of it.

 He texted me about the meeting only at the last minute.

The noun ‘text’ used to refer to a text message sent on a phone is used as a verb in the
sentence by adding an ‘ed’ to the end of the word.

 The financial aid had to be approved before we could make a decision.

The noun ‘finance’ is used as an adjective by adding ‘ial’ to the end of it and the verb
‘decide’ is used as a noun by removing ‘de’ and adding ‘sion’ to the word.

 Forming Compound Words

Compound words are formed by combining one part of speech with another to form a
specific word class. There are many ways in which compound words are formed. Verbs
are combined with adjectives to form compound verbs, a present participle is combined
with a noun to form a compound noun, two nouns are combined to form a compound
noun, an adjective and a noun are combined to form a compound noun, an adverb is
combined with a noun to form a compound noun, an adjective is combined with a past
participle to form a compound adjective and so on. Take a look at the following examples
and go through the articles on compound nouns, compound words and compound
adjectives to understand how they work.

Examples of Word Formation by Compounding

 Over (adverb) + load (noun) – Overload

 White (adjective) + wash (verb) – Whitewash
 Black (adjective) + board (noun ) – Blackboard
 Cup (noun) + board (noun) – Cupboard
 Short (adjective) + hand (noun) – Shorthand
 Swimming (present participle) + pool (noun) – Swimming pool
 Three (adjective) + legged (past participle) – Three-legged
 Break (verb) + Down (preposition) – Breakdown
 Up (preposition) + town (noun) – Uptown
 Copy (verb) + writer (noun) – Copywriter
 Sun (noun) + rise (verb) – Sunrise
 Count (verb) + down (preposition) – Countdown
 Flash (verb) + mob (noun) – Flash mob
 Master (noun) + piece (noun) – Masterpiece
 Round (adjective) + table (noun) – Round-table

Blending

In linguistics, a blend word is one formed from parts of two or more other words. These
parts are called morphemes (the smallest grammatical unit in a language).
cat + -s = the two morpheme units.

Formation

Most blends are formed by one of the following methods:

The end of one word is appended to the beginning of the other smoke (1) + fog (1) →
smog (1)
The beginnings of two words are combined. For example, cyborg is a blend of cybernetic
and organism.
Two words are blended around a common sequence of sounds, also known as blends
with overlapping.
The word motel is a blend of motor and hotel.

Acronym
An acronym is a word or name formed as an abbreviation from the initial components in
a phrase or a word, usually individual letters (as in NATO or laser) and sometimes
syllables.
Acronyms are pronounced as a word, containing only initial letters
NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Scuba: self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
Laser: light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation GIF: Graphics Interchange
Format

Loaned words
In linguistics, loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by
literal, word-for-word or root-for-root translation. means to borrow a word or phrase
from another language. "Calque" itself is a loanword from the French noun calque which
means to copy, or to imitate.

List of loanwords From French : Adam's Apple

By heart
Governor Stair-case
Marriage of Convenience Point of view
Pineapple (Dutch) Antibody (German) Scapegoat (Hebrew)
Killer whale - ballena asesina(Spanish) Muscle - musculus (Latin)
Rest in Peace - requiescat in pace (Latin)

Root words from foreign languages and their use in English Root Words

A root is the basic unit of a word. It is the form of a word after all affixes are removed.
It's what's left after you remove all the affixes — the prefixes like "un-" or "anti-" and
suffixes such as "-able" and "-tion." There are many root words that can be used on their
own or as parts of other common words in the English language. These are also referred
to as base words.

Act - means to move or do. Acting Ego - mean "I". Egotist

Legal - means related to the law. Illegal Normal - means typical. Normality

Phobia - means to fear. Claustrophobia Sent - to feel, send. Consent

Root Words from foreign languages

Here are some more examples of roots, their meanings and other words that are formed
by adding prefixes and/or suffixes to these language building blocks:

1. Ambul - means move or walk. Amble, ambulant, ambulate

2. Auto - means self or same. Autocrat, automatic

3. Bene - means good. Benefactor, benevolent

4. Cardio - means heart. Cardiovascular, cardiology

5. Cede - means go, yield. Intercede, recede, concede

6. Counter - means against or opposite. Counteract, counterpoint, counterargument

7. Dem - means people. Democracy, democrat, demographic

8. Derm - means skin. Dermatology, epidermis

9. Equi - means equal. Equity, equilateral, equidistant

10. Hypno - means sleep. Hypnosis, hypnotic

11. Intra - means within or into. Intrapersonal, intramural, intravenous

12. Ject - means to throw. Reject, eject, inject

13. Mal - means bad. Malignant, malfunction, malice

14. Mangi - means big or great. Magnificent, magnify

15. Multi - means many. Multiple, multifaceted, multilingual

16. Omni - means all. Omnipotent, omnipresent, omnivore

17. Poly - means many. Polygamous, polychrome, polytheist

18. Script - means write. Manuscript, postscript

19. Sect - means cut. Intersect, dissect, section

20. Vis, vid - means see. Envision, evident

Root words can be helpful in improving our vocabulary. When we know root words, we
can recognize the basis of any word and use that knowledge to help us define a word.

Linguists, scientists who study language, refer to the root as the base or foundation of a
word.

―port ‖ is a root word. It appears as a part of many words. However, anytime it appears
in a word, ―port ‖ means ―to carry‖ or ―to move.‖ It gives the meaning of ―to carry ‖ or

―to move ‖ to any word it‘s a part of. So when you see words that include ―port,‖ like
transport, portable, teleportation, deport or export, you know these words have
something to do with ―carrying‖ or ―moving.‖

Acquaintance with prefixes and suffixes from foreign languages in English to form
derivatives

Prefixes in English to form Derivatives:

It is the process of forming a new word from an existing word, often by adding a prefix o
Acquaintance with prefixes in English to form derivatives Definitions of Root Words:

 Alter meaning: Other – alternate

 Ami or amic meaning: Love - amicable
 Amphi meaning: All side or both ends - amphibian
 Anthrop meaning: Human or man - Anthropology
 Aqua or Aque meaning: Water - aquarium
 Aud meaning: Sound - audio
 Bio meaning: Life - Biography
 Cap meaning: To take or seize control of - capsize
 Carn meaning: Meat - carnivorous
 Chron meaning: Time – chronicle
 Cogn meaning: Know - cognitive
 Cred meaning: Believe - credibility
 Dei meaning: god – deity
 Demo meaning: People – democracy
 Dent meaning: Tooth – dental
 Derm meaning: Skin - dermatology
 Duo meaning: Two - dual, duet
 Dynam meaning: Power - dynamo
 Ego meaning: Self – egoist
 Equ meaning: Equal or equivalent

Suffixes from foreign languages in English to form derivatives:

Suffix, such as -ness or un-. For example, happiness and unhappy derive from the root
word happy.

1. adjective-to-noun: -ness (slow → eg: slowness

2. adjective-to-verb: -ise (modern →eg: modernise in British English
3. or -ize (final → finalize) in American English and Oxford spelling
4. adjective-to-adjective: -ish (red → eg: reddish
5. adjective-to-adverb: -ly (personal → eg: personally
6. noun-to-adjective: -al (recreation → eg: recreational
7. noun-to-verb: -fy (glory → eg: glorify
8. verb-to-adjective: -able (drink → eg: potable
9. verb-to-noun (abstract): -ance (deliver → eg: deliverance
10. verb-to-noun (agent): -er (write → eg: writer

Synonyms, Antonyms

Synonyms are words that have the same or a similar meaning. Synonyms can provide us
with variety in speech or writing. There are endless examples of synonyms, making it
easy for us to avoid overusing the same word and sounding repetitive. Some examples of
synonyms include the following:

1. Amazing, astounding, surprising, stunning

2. Annihilation, destruction, carnage, extinction
3. Benefit, profit, revenue, yield
4. Brave, courageous, valiant, heroic
5. Center, middle, inside, midpoint
6. Cunning, keen, sharp, slick
7. Destitute, poor, bankrupt, impoverished
8. Deterioration, pollution, defilement, adulteration
9. Enormous, huge, gigantic, massive
10. Evil, bad, wicked, vile, malicious
11. Fertile, fruitful, abundant, productive
12. House, dwelling, abode, domicile
13. Hungry, ravenous, empty
14. Injured, damaged, wounded, harmed
15. Intelligent, clever, brilliant, knowledgeable
16. Look, glance, see, gaze, stare
17. Loyal, faithful, ardent, devoted
18. Old, elderly, aged, senior
19. Organization, institution, management
20. Partner, associate, colleague, companion
21. Polite, courteous, cordial, gracious
22. Quick, fast, swift, speedy, rapid
23. Risky, dangerous, perilous, treacherous
24. Sleepy, drowsy, listless, sluggish
25. True, correct, right, accurate, exact

Antonyms
An antonym is the opposite of another word. Antonyms show contrast between two
things or give clues to exactly what is meant. Below are some examples of antonyms:
1. Achieve – Fail
2. Idle – Active
3. Afraid – Confident
4. Ancient – Modern
5. Arrive – Depart
6. Arrogant – Humble
7. Ascend – Descend
8. Attack – Defend
9. Blunt – Sharp
10. Brave – Cowardly
11. Cautious – Careless
12. Complex – Simple
13. Compliment – Insult
14. Crazy – Sane
15. Crooked – Straight
16. Decrease – Increase
17. Demand – Supply
18. Destroy – Create
19. Divide – Unite
20. Drunk – Sober
21. Expand – Contract
22. Freeze – Boil
23. Full – Empty
24. Generous – Stingy
25. Giant – Dwarf

Rules to be Followed When Forming Words

Formation of words can be a very interesting exercise, but you have to be really careful
when you are adding inflections or affixes. There are a few things you will need to bear in
mind when you are forming words. Take a look at the following points to learn what they
are.

 Before making any change to the stem of the word, try to analyse what is the kind
of meaning you want the word to convey and what role the word will have to play in the
sentence.

 In most cases, the beginning of the base word remains the same. Only when
prefixes are added the word has a syllable added to the beginning of it. Notice that even
in this case, the word is retained as such.

 When suffixes are added, there are many instances where you will have to remove
the last one or more alphabets of the word and add the suffix. However, there are words
like ‘movement’ where the suffix is just added without any change in the spelling of the
base word.

 Here is one way to easily know which suffix has to be added to form a particular
word class – most often, nouns end in ‘er’, ‘or’, ‘ist’, ‘ian’, ‘ion’, ‘ment’, ‘ness’, and ‘ity’;
verbs end in ‘ise’, ‘ate’ and ‘en’; adjectives end in ‘able’, ‘ible’, ‘ive’, ‘ic’, ‘ed’, ‘ing’ and ‘al’;
and adverbs normally end in ‘ly’.

 When words are formed by conversion, be very careful. Make sure you know that
you are converting them accurately and using them in the sentence properly.

 When forming compound words, see to it that you hyphenate them if necessary,
use the right combination of words and do not just mix and match any word.

 Changing from one tense to another also can also be considered a type of word
formation, as the word is inflected to indicate the twelve different tenses in the English
language.

 Forming degrees of comparison can also be put under word formation. In this
case, the comparative and superlative degrees are formed by adding ‘er’ and ‘est’ to the
end of the adjective. The comparative and superlative degrees of polysyllabic words are
formed by using ‘more’ and ‘most’, respectively, along with the adjective.

Standard Abbreviations

Abbreviations are short forms of lengthy expressions. Abbreviations are in use in almost
every discipline and area of life.

Written and verbal communication often includes these abbreviations:

1. R.S.V.P. – This acronym means "Répondez s'il vous plait," French for "respond, if you
please." It is often used on invitations to parties and special events, and is intended (as it
says) to be responded to with a "yes, we will attend," or "no, we will not."

2. P.S. – Means "post script." At the end of a letter, people will often include a P.S. to
include an extra thought that was intended to be included in the letter, but forgotten.
Using a P.S. was more common in typewritten letters, when you couldn‘t go back and
add a sentence in the body of a letter.

3. A.S.A.P. – "As soon as possible," used when encouraging someone to respond to a

request without delay.

4. E.T.A. – This acronym means "estimated time of arrival," and is used as a guess for
when one expects to arrive while traveling.

5. D.I.Y. – This acronym stands for "do it yourself," which means creating something on
your own. It is often used for crafts and home repairs.

6. U.N.O - the world famous organisation that strives to establish global peace

7. W.H.O - World Health Organisation

8. B.B.C- British Broadcasting Corporation

9. A.I.R - All India Radio

10.F.I.R - First Information Report

Idioms and Phrases

English idioms, proverbs, and expressions are an important part of everyday English.
They come up all the time in both written and spoken English. Because idioms don't
always make sense literally, you'll need to familiarize yourself with the meaning and
usage of each idiom. Idioms are expressions peculiar to the language.

Definition: An idiom is a phrase where the words together have a meaning that is
different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words. English has thousands
of idioms. Most of English idioms are informal. Idioms are a group of words used for
more effective use of language. These words are not interpreted by their literal meaning
but by their indicative meaning. Their effective use brings the command over the
language.

For example, if someone says to you ―I‘m pulling your leg‖, you might think it
is strange because you would definitely be able to feel if someone was holding your leg
and pulling it! This idiom actually means that they are teasing you or playing a joke on
you. As the meanings are usually completely different to the meanings of the actual
words, it can be very difficult to learn them – you need to learn them in the same way
you learn new vocabulary.
Nouns and Verbs in English combination with Prepositions, Adverbs and other parts of
speech, constantly make idioms. The more it is increasingly used the better will be one‘s
command over the language.

A bitter pill: A situation or information that is unpleasant but must be accepted.

A hot potato: A controversial issue or situation that is awkward or

unpleasant to deal with.

Achilles' heel: A metaphor for a fatal weakness in spite of overall strength.

At the drop of a hat: Without any hesitation; instantly.

Ball is in your court: It is up to you to make the next decision or step.

Call it a day: To retire

Cheap as chips: Inexpensive or of good value

Couch potato: A lazy person

Don‘t count your chicken before they hatch: Don‘t make plan for something
that may not happen

Fit as a fiddle: In good physical health

Fly in the ointment: That one tiny drawback

Grass is always greener on the other side: A phrase implying that a person is
never satisfied with their current situation; they think others have it better.

Heard it through the grapevine: You learned something through means of a

rumor.

Ignorance is bliss:Life is good when you're naive to the hardships happening all
around

It takes two to tango: It takes more than one person to start a fight

Here are 15 common English idioms and phrases that will enrich your English
vocabulary and make you sound like a native speaker in no time.

1. ‗The best of both worlds‘ – means you can enjoy two different opportunities at
the same time.

―By working part-time and looking after her kids two days a week she managed to get
the best of both worlds.‖

2. ‗Speak of the devil‘ – this means that the person you‘re just talking about
actually turns up at that moment.

―Hi Tom, speak of the devil, I was just telling Sara about your new car.‖

3. ‗See eye to eye‘ – this means agreeing with someone.

―They finally saw eye to eye on the business deal.‖

4. ‗Once in a blue moon‘ – an event that happens infrequently.

―I only go to the cinema once in a blue moon.‖

5. ‗When pigs fly‘ – something that will never happen.

―When pigs fly she‘ll tidy up her room.‖

6. ‗To cost an arm and a leg‘– something is very expensive.

―Fuel these days costs and arm and a leg.‖

7. ‗A piece of cake‘– something is very easy.

―The English test was a piece of cake.‖

8. ‗Let the cat out of the bag‘ – to accidentally reveal a secret.

―I let the cat out of the bag about their wedding plans.‖

9. ‗To feel under the weather‘ – to not feel well.

―I‘m really feeling under the weather today; I have a terrible cold.‖

10. ‗To kill two birds with one stone‘ – to solve two problems at once.

―By taking my dad on holiday, I killed two birds with one stone. I got to go away but also
spend time with him.‖

11. ‗To cut corners‘ – to do something badly or cheaply.

―They really cut corners when they built this bathroom; the shower is leaking.‖

12. ‗To add insult to injury‘ – to make a situation worse.

―To add insult to injury the car drove off without stopping after knocking me off my
bike.‖

13. ‗You can‘t judge a book by its cover‘ – to not judge someone or something based
solely on appearance.

―I thought this no-brand bread would be horrible; turns out you can‘t judge a book by
its cover.‖

14. ‗Break a leg‘ – means ‗good luck‘ (often said to actors before they go on stage).

―Break a leg Sam, I‘m sure your performance will be great.‖

15. ‗To hit the nail on the head‘ – to describe exactly what is causing a situation or
problem.

―He hit the nail on the head when he said this company needs more HR support.‖

Phrases:

Definition:
Phrase means a small group of words standing together as a conceptual unit. Examples:

1. blow up - explode - The terrorists tried to blow up the railroad station.

2. call off -cancel - They called off this afternoon's meeting

3. find out - discover - My sister found out that her husband had been planning a
surprise party for her.

4. give away -give something to someone else for free - The filling station was giving
away free gas.

5. make out - hear, understand - He was so far away, we really couldn't make
out what he was saying.

6. take down - make a written note - These are your instructions. Write them down
before you forget.

7. use up - exhaust, use completely - The gang members used up all the money and
went out to rob some more banks.

One word substitutes

One word substitution is a process in which people use one word to replace a wordy
phrase, to make the sentence structure more clear. This also makes work more succinct,
instead of convoluted. For example, if you have a sentence that states 'He drives me in a
vehicle around town.' instead you can use 'He chauffeurs me around town.' The meaning
is identical, yet the sentence is shorter. This adds a complexity to writing, while still
making sure the writing is concise.

Most used One Word Substitution

1. To fall apart over time - Disintegrate

2. A copy of something that is identical - Facsimile
3. Old age that results in odd and unique behaviors - Senility
4. A smart and educated individual - Intellectual
5. Someone who is driven by passion to do crazy things - Zealot
6. Things to be done throughout the day - Schedule
7. To leave somewhere that is treacherous - Escape
8. A person who pushes an idea or belief system they do not believe - Hypocrite
9. Someone who sees everything negatively - Cynic
10. Something that is not understandable - Incomprehensible
11. A person who is talented in many different facets of life - Versatile
12. A movie or play held during the daytime - Matinee
13. Timeframe between kids hitting puberty and being an adult - Adolescence
14. A person that is unknown - Anonymous
15. Someone that you work with – Colleague